Time running out for Congress to act on immigration

Associated Press

Published 7:05 pm, Saturday, July 26, 2014

Washington --

With one week left before Congress' August recess, President Obama is prodding Republicans to help ease the influx of minors and migrant families from Central America, but with chances dimming that border legislation will reach his desk before the break, he also is focusing on other ways to stem the flow.

GOP leaders are working against time to find a consensus within their party to deal with more than 57,000 children and other migrants who have arrived since October, mostly from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

Obama's demand for congressional action comes as GOP lawmakers are attempting to coalesce behind a narrow package of changes, including sending National Guard troops to the border, increasing the number of U.S. immigration judges and changing a law so that migrant youths arriving by the tens of thousands could be sent home more quickly.

The package would cost less than $1 billion, several lawmakers said, far less than the $3.7 billion Obama requested to deal with the crisis.

Obama, who met this past week with presidents from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, said the U.S. has compassion for the migrant children, but those who do not have a proper claim to remain in the United States will be turned back. At the same time, the regional leaders said the president offered them assurances that the rights of those children would be observed.

White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Obama supports policy changes that would give the administration more authority to turn back Central American migrants at the border. But he said current proposals in Congress, including a bipartisan plan proposed by Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, do not meet White House standards of deterring illegal migration while protecting legitimate claims for asylum from border crossers.